The Desert of Mystery
The Desert of Mystery was a domain that existed between the years 585 BDW and 10 BDW. While its territory varied over the years, it occupied most of the Innagos Desert. Its capital was to the west of Ikana Canyon. It was disbanded following the rise of The Legends Alliance and Emperor Khuffie, with most of its survivors going on to form new domains or merge into the Alliance. Their history is largely dominated by endless warfare. History Foundation The Desert of Mystery was founded on one ideology: "Destroy evil before it can take root." Most initial members of the Desert came from a domain known as The Hall of Heroes, which had suffered from a nasty civil war in the years prior to its eventual collapse. Nearly all were former supporters of the Hall's expansionist faction, which felt that it was their duty to seize land from the weak and eliminate corruption. Other founding members included former citizens of Kakariko Village seeking a more active warrior lifestyle after the destruction of their peaceful domain. No matter the case, all were the more militant survivors of the previous domains and all agreed that it was better to strike an enemy down before the innocent came under fire. These hardline soldiers settled in the Innagos Desert, led to a rich oasis by the last monarchs of the Hall of Heroes. Most hate a deep hatred for The Labyrinth, the source of most violence in Verden, and deliberately chose the location of their new home because it was within striking distance of their rivals. The goals of the Desert of Mystery were simple. They were to utterly destroy the Labyrinth, expand their territory as much as possible in order to liberate the land from corruption, and slay anyone who would dare harm the innocent or threaten the Desert. Military conscription began immediately, though many of the first soldiers were volunteers. The First Desert-Labyrinth War By the year 546 BDW, the Labyrinth had recovered from its losses during Jericho's Invasion and the Desert had created a formidable army. With both domains at what was then considered full strength, it didn't take long before the first shedding of blood between their people. Open skirmishes took place along the Desert's western borderlands. These were small battles and more for show than an attempt at conquest - it was a way of sizing the new enemy up. The skirmishes grew in size and strength over the years, and by 537 BDW entire villages were being destroyed. To deal with the growing threat, an elite corp of warriors was created. These were The Desert Defenders. Only the most experienced members of the Desert were eligible for membership, and all were experts at long-term survival in the harsh desert climate. They successfully held back the Labyrinth for decades and took great care to study the behavior and movements of their enemies in the hope of catching them off-guard. The battles ceased without warning in the year 515 BDW. After many months of silence, Chikara Nadir, the queen of the Labyrinth, successfully raided the city of Ur'Almen in the nation of Unidiel. She returned to the Labyrinth with weapons, riches, and other goods. The Desert Defenders saw this as a 'supply run' and, coupled with the silent months of potential military buildup, they began to anticipate a large-scale Labyrinth invasion. Rather than wait for the invasion to begin, the Desert Defenders received approval for a pre-emptive strike on their enemies. In the early months of 514 BDW, the Defenders located and destroyed many vital Labyrinth tunnel entrances, which significantly limited their enemy's movement and prevented a rapid invasion. The Defenders then led the rest of the Desert military on a push into Labyrinth territory but faced stiff resistance from Chikara. Selena Nadir, the other ruler of the Labyrinth, returned from the north with her well-equipped army, providing the Labyrinth with reinforcements, and repulsed the Desert warriors. War continued over the next two years with heavy fighting along the western border. In the year 512 BDW, Selena Nadir had begun a highly successful campaign in the northern regions of the Desert, seizing many military bases and populating them with her own troops, planning for a push against the Desert's capital city. By the end of the year, however, logistics got the better of the Labyrinth. Lacking enough supplies to continue her campaign, Selena elected to return to the Labyrinth... but not before razing all the bases and towns that she had captured. Roslen and The Sages In the year 509 BDW, not long after Selena's retreat, Roslen attempted to open a supply route to the nation of Lanasach. As this supply route would cut through their territory, the Desert of Mystery was none too happy. The Desert began to raid Roslen caravans and seize the goods for their own use. A nasty surprise came in the form of Sage mercenaries - masters of magic - who had been hired to escort the caravans. Initial Desert raids resulted in great loss of life due to the power of their new enemy. The Defenders quickly created a strategy to deal with this threat and the tide of battle began to change. A few Sages were taken as prisoners by the Defenders, and the Desert of Mystery then began to incorporate greater use of magic within their own ranks from the techniques discovered during lengthy interrogation procedures. War began between Roslen and the Desert of Mystery over the disruption of caravan shipments. The Sages were ever-present threats on the battlefield. In the year 501 BDW, the Desert of Mystery emerged victorious from the war and took control of the entire supply route, seizing all caravans left in their territory. A treaty was signed between Roslen and the Desert to prevent future attacks. Eastern Expansion Seeking to gain more territory, resources, and power, the leaders of the Desert decided to expand their eastern border. Conquering the various tribes and bands of the Innagos Desert was not a problem for the well-equipped military of the domain. The first major threat to expansion was the Kingdom of Ikana. An ancient and relatively advanced civilization compared to other desert cultures, the Kingdom of Ikana was known for its fierce warriors and distrust of outsiders. War in this region was a long, steady process. The Ikana would fight until the last man, their entire society destroyed by the advancing might of the Desert of Mystery. Ikana's territory was then annexed, and it became a stepping stone for further conquest. The Desert then set its eyes on the nation of Lanasach, which, at this time, was a formidible maritime power. The Desert began raiding Lanasach settlements in the year 451 BDW, and quickly invested most of their military power into a full invasion of the eastern nation. The Desert made great progress, but just as Lanasach looked set to admit defeat, an old threat would emerge from the west that would threaten plans of invasion.... The Second Desert-Labyrinth War With the brunt of the Desert military fighting in far-off Lanasach, the Labyrinth decided that it was the perfect time to strike their rival domain. The Labyrinth military began an offensive campaign in the western desert in the year 450 BDW and smashed through the borderland defenses. Selena Nadir, acting commander of the offensive, made a rapid push toward the Desert Oasis, the capital of the domain. The Lanasach campaign was aborted and the eastern forces were recalled, but it would take time before they could return home. They arrived in the summer of 450 BDW, and found that their capital was now under Labyrinth control, with all former citizens now living in the desert wastelands or buried six feet under. The Desert Defenders then attempt to plan a liberation, but were met with stiff resistance. Selena declared that if the Desert wanted its capital back, they would have to come in and take it back. This, of course, would involve heavy collateral damage. Seeing no other options, the Desert Defenders led the rest of their military on a major offensive to take back the Oasis. The Desert effectively destroyed its own capital in the fighting that followed. Selena retreated back to the west, leaving the Desert with a broken backbone. It would take fifteen years to rebuild the Desert Oasis, and longer still to return to full strength. Sporadic fighting with the Labyrinth continued for centuries to come, interrupted by an attempted pirate invasion on the Desert. The Desert Defenders dealt the offending forces so great a blow that the pirates of the Lalvican never again attempted an invasion of the domain. The final highlight of the drawn out war with the Labyrinth was a covert Desert operation. Desert agents infiltrated the Labyrinth and successfullly escaped after poisoning the underground water supply. Over a quarter of the Labyrinth population died and many more became severely ill. This prevented the Labyrinth from striking back and effectively ended the war. The Alliance Invasion Khuffie united the nations of Verden between the years of 15 and 10 BDW. The threat of the new Legends Alliance was initially underestimated by the domains, but with the Desert and Labyrinth still suffering from losses due to their war, neither domain was prepared to repulse a large-scale invasion from a third party. Alliance soldiers stormed over the Desert border and began to seize massive areas of land with swift, decisive strikes. The Desert Oasis fell a few months later, but the fighting had been so severe that most civilized settlements had been utterly destroyed in the process. Khuffie had little interest in the land and made no effort to hold it after the threat of the Desert was removed. The Innagos Desert then returned to a state of nomadic tribes. Khuffie offered the last leaders of the Desert of Mystery a spot on his Tower of the Gods to serve as regional governors. Most survivors of the Desert of Mystery went on to join the three new rebel domains in the other regions of Verden, hoping to get revenge for the loss of their home. Category:Domains Category:History: Domains Category:Geography: Nations